Biz IT

Published January 15, 2007

Local firm provides RFID solution for Mitsubishi

TCM's system improves logistics productivity by up to 25%

By AMIT ROY CHOUDHURY

SINGAPORE-BASED TCM RFiD scored a notable coup recently when it developed a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-based solution for Mitsubishi Electric Asia, making it one of the few Japanese companies in Asia to use the cutting-edge technology to manage its regional warehouse inventory system effectively.

Mr Oh: 'The system benefits Mitsubishi Electric Asia in terms of considerable cost and time savings.'

Mitsubishi Electric Asia, part of the Mitsubishi group, runs a huge regional logistics hub out of Singapore, its Asia-Pacific headquarters.

'For a large company like Mitsubishi Electric Asia with an extensive range of products, and a regional logistics hub spanning operations from New Zealand to India, warehouse inventory is a critical function that is hard to manage due to its complexity and magnitude,' T Saito, deputy managing director of Mitsubishi Electric Asia, told BizIT.

To tackle the problem, TCM developed its RFID Inventory Tracking System (RITS) to help Mitsubishi keep track of inventories across all product lines, said Michael Oh, managing director of TCM.

'The system benefits Mitsubishi Electric Asia in terms of considerable cost and time savings and RITS can store and relay information on products that are in the warehouse after the inventories have been 'tagged',' Mr Oh told BizIT.

RITS can do real time tracking of the location of different products and their movement, thus providing a complete solution to securing, tracking and managing of inventories.

According to Mr Saito, the system can pinpoint the location of any particular item that is meant to leave the warehouse.

'This system eliminates the chance of stocks going astray, and any discrepancies, thus maximising efficiency and cost savings.'

TCM's Mr Oh pointed out that with this RFID system in place, warehouse manpower has been cut by 10 per cent.

'This is due to the quick information on the status and movement of the inventories, which facilitates the timely, accurate and sound decisions made on the supply chain management.'

Also, RITS has allowed Mitsubishi Electric Asia to benefit by improving the productivity in its logistics function by up to 25 per cent.

'In addition, its cost structure has been tightened while operating efficiency has been boosted,' Mr Oh said.

Mr Saito added that in due course, the system will help Mitsubishi Electric Asia achieve customer satisfaction and workflow efficiency.

TCM was established in 2004 as an RFID consultancy, solutions integrator and RFID antenna manufacturer. Apart from the main office in Singapore, the company has corporate offices around the region - Malaysia, Korea, Brunei and China.

Last year, with a staff strength of just seven, the company completed several major RFID projects including its own corporate social responsibility initiative for St Andrew's Community Hospital.

'TCM has currently filed for three patents for its innovative products and solutions including RFID Intelli Shelf for warehousing, as well as the Intelli-Trolley and medical dispensing for healthcare industries,' Mr Oh said.

The company's Intelli-Shelf product, a smart-shelf designed for industrial use, was launched in April 2005 at RFID World in Singapore.

'The company commissioned the Intelli-Shelf at Intermech Machinery Pte Ltd as part of the call-for-collaboration for RFID business efficiency drive by the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) in 2004,' Mr Oh said.

He added that the product can be used in hospital and pharmacy applications as well as in warehouses.

It allows warehouse operators to know the current stock levels on their shelves, thus providing information on when and where to replenish their stock at the shelf level and how much stock to buffer.

'One of the key advantages built into it is the concept of one product design configurable to a wide range of application settings.'

Intelli-Trolley has the same functions as Intelli-Shelf except that users can get real time information on the items at shelf level even as the shelf itself moves on a trolley.

It has a lot of applications in the nursing profession, Mr Oh said.

Apart from the St Andrew's and Intermech projects, the company also finished another RFID project in Thailand last year, Mr Oh added.

(Click here for actual Actual Press Release)

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